Temperatures deep in wellbores typically can reach relatively high levels, sometimes reaching well over 500° F. To perform operations in a well, various types of tools are lowered into the well. These tools often include heat-sensitive components, such as electrical detonators. An electrical detonator is used for detonating explosives (such as shaped charges in perforating guns).
Many commercially available detonators are rated to operate at less than 500° F. for a relatively limited amount of time (such as one hour or so). With the oil and gas industry continuing to explore wells at ever deeper depths, the temperatures and pressures experienced by downhole tools can be quite high. The result is that many commercially available detonators will fail in high-temperature applications. Normally, a perforating job can take many hours to complete, in which the perforating tool, including an electrical detonator, remains downhole for such time. If the electrical detonator were to fail as a result of high temperature, then well operations may not be performed reliably, which can lead to increased well completion times (and thus increased costs), and reduced production of hydrocarbons.